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Rappelling with caribiners

P

Parkerbow

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Messages
74
Does anyone on here rappel back down from your tree with just caribiners and a prusik knot as a blocker under the biners. I seen a video on how to use 2 biners as a descender. It looked pretty safe without buying another descender.
 
I tried rapelling with a forked stick but it proved to be somewhat unreliable. I bought some proper descenders and never went back. :D Why reinvent the wheel?
 
www.rei.com

Black Diamond Super 8 Belay Device | REI Co-op

Ideal for the retro climber or Search-and-Rescue professional, the Black Diamond Super 8 Belay Device is a classic, old-school belay / rappel figure 8 with an updated design for smooth handling.
www.rei.com www.rei.com

Use one of these. And if you rotate downwards 180 degrees after you loop through, before you hook in, it will work as a progress capture while under load.

So you can pull the small part of the 8 down to let you rappel, but as soon as you let go it releases you.

90% of my sits last year were single stick up, rappel down with this.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
 
Wyatt_burp said:
www.rei.com

Black Diamond Super 8 Belay Device | REI Co-op

Ideal for the retro climber or Search-and-Rescue professional, the Black Diamond Super 8 Belay Device is a classic, old-school belay / rappel figure 8 with an updated design for smooth handling.
www.rei.com www.rei.com

Use one of these. And if you rotate downwards 180 degrees after you loop through, before you hook in, it will work as a progress capture while under load.

So you can pull the small part of the 8 down to let you rappel, but as soon as you let go it releases you.

90% of my sits last year were single stick up, rappel down with this.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I saw these and though about buying one. So can you stop under load with this and pull your one stick and then descend all the way down under control?
 
I’ve heard of guys rapelling with a caribiner and a Munter Hitch.......but only in an emergency. I’ve never done it, and I hope I never do!!
 
Parkerbow said:
I saw these and though about buying one. So can you stop under load with this and pull your one stick and then descend all the way down under control?
Click to expand...
Yeah, if you look through my post history, I have one from last summer with a youtube video explaining it.

Regular rappel with an 8 you need to throw a loop in to stop. The way I run it you just need to not pull down on the small eye.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
 
Wyatt_burp said:
Yeah, if you look through my post history, I have one from last summer with a youtube video explaining it.

Regular rappel with an 8 you need to throw a loop in to stop. The way I run it you just need to not pull down on the small eye.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Thanks so much, I just ordered a figure 8. Now I just need to find your youtube video. Thanks again.
 
Run a Munter hitch through a biner attached to (long) saddle bridge, back it with a (short) prussik friction hitch attached to side linesman loop, make sure the prussik is far enough away and can't get caught up in the biner Munter hitch. The Munter will hold/friction the rope enough so you can tend the Prussik and slowly let out the rope as you walk down the tree, I wrap the rope behind me and back to my other hand for added assurance. Transferring off of a tether to the rappel rope can be tricky if you don't have a stand/ platform or stick/ branch to stand on and take the weight off.
 
Last edited:
Wyatt_burp said:
Yeah, if you look through my post history, I have one from last summer with a youtube video explaining it.

Regular rappel with an 8 you need to throw a loop in to stop. The way I run it you just need to not pull down on the small eye.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

If anyone chooses to do this, back it up with something like an autoblock under it.
 
mtsrunner said:
If anyone chooses to do this, back it up with something like an autoblock under it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I dont SRT with that anymore, I would certainly auto block it for climbing, but do you auto block when you rappel?

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Wyatt_burp said:
Yeah, I dont SRT with that anymore, I would certainly auto block it for climbing, but do you auto block when you rappel?

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Click to expand...
The answer should be yes. You tend the auto with your lead hand behind the rappel device for added safety on descent, that way if you lose the break your backed up.
 
I will probably use the figure 8 with a prusik rope auto block beneath it for added safety. I can tell with rappelling, take your time and go slow and safe. No reason to be fast just getting out of a stand setup. I like to be able to hunt the next day.
 
Wyatt_burp said:
Yeah, I dont SRT with that anymore, I would certainly auto block it for climbing, but do you auto block when you rappel?

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Click to expand...

Yes, use it for rapelling. I got lazy once and didn’t use it while rapelling with the exact technique mentioned above. I had a hard time pulling down on the small end of the 8 to release friction. When it did release, the free end of the rope passed under the anchor end and completely let me free fall 12’ flat on my back. It sucked. I’ll never rappel without a backup again. Don’t be an idiot like me.
 
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